Like most people in the civilized world today, I’m laughing at Donald Trump.  He held one of his “Inflame the Deplorables” rallies a few days ago during which he suggested that the next NFL player to take a knee during the National Anthem should be fired.  He referred to them as sons of bitches and received HUGE applause from his…”basket.”  Cut to the following Sunday, many (most?) players either take a knee or lock arms in solidarity with the players who take a knee.  A few teams simply didn’t come out for the National Anthem.

Trump lives inside the conservative bubble.  Like everyone who dwells inside the conservative bubble, he has twisted understanding of the world around him.  The protest is simple and straightforward.  Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the National Anthem to protest bad cops getting away with shooting unarmed people.  The victims of such shootings tend to be people of color.  But inside the conservative bubble the action has been represented as an insult to the American flag and Trump lives inside the conservative bubble.  So, he’s more “offended” by the peaceful protests than by the shootings.  I think you’ve missed the point, there, Don…

Conservatives have been talking up a “boycott” of the NFL over the whole take-a-knee thing.  Interesting timing.  The NFL has done itself some serious damage.  They’ve supersaturated their markets.  They’ve been arrogant in their dealings with local cities and fan bases.  They’ve taken to charging usury amounts on their tickets and – before you can overpay for your seats – you have to buy a “seat license”.  That is, you have to pay for the opportunity to get screwed by the NFL.  On TV, the games have WAY too much “dead time”, mostly too many commercials.  I suspect, on some level, as people are becoming more and more aware that the players are out their performing spectacular feats of athleticism – oh, and giving themselves serious, permanent brain damage – the game is just getting more…difficult to watch.
“That was a GREAT catch, Dan!”
“It sure was, Bob.  Uh-oh, it looks as though he’s going into the ‘Concussion Protocol’…”
“Shortened his life a bit, did he?”
“Sure did, Bob – by a few years…but it was a spectacular catch…”

The conservative bubble has it all down to “politicizing the game.”  Newsflash: playing the National Anthem before each game – complete with a flyover of fighter jets in formation spewing red, white, and blue smoke – has pretty much been “politicizing the game” since…well, since the practice started…

Apparently, some people – conservatives, presumably – started yelling slurs and taunts at the kneeling players.  I’m not sure why shouting epithets at the top of one’s lungs during the National Anthem is NOT disrespecting the flag.  I guess you’d have to live inside the conservative bubble to understand…

It’s funny, in calling for the boycott, Trump has done something the NFL, itself, couldn’t do: bring back viewers, at least for the pregame.  I tuned in specifically to see how the players would react.  I confess, I was NOT disappointed.  I’ll tune in again next Sunday, as well.  I’m interested to see how long the complete repudiation of the Dotard in Chief lasts…